THE GEARS OF PREPAREDNESS

BATTLING FEARS OF THE FUTURE? Here's what one fellow says you can do to help ease your mind. Consider the necessities of life—purchase now in bulk, especially storable food.

if inflation ensues, it will be worth more tomorrow.

if deflation, it may not be available tomorrow due to shortages.

If a complete financial breakdown follows, you're already more self-sufficient and can barter for other necessities.

If nothing happens, you will have paid off the future now instead of later.

Begin buying in your local area now, and keep buying there. Tell your friends what you are doing, and encourage them to do the same. We also need to slow down on purchasing imported items. I am one who doesn't believe we MUST buy imported anything! Globalism has suffocated American industrial know-how and can do, and thus the skills of self-preservation.

The problem in America is the same problem as in the rest of the nations on our planet; it's the rich/poor system. As long as rich people get richer, the country and the world will continue to spiral towards the oblivion we see elsewhere around the world. We must again tax the rich according to the benefits they have acquired through a system slanted in their favor at the outset; once upon a time if one earned in excess of the masses annually, one would be obliged to give back in kind to the system.

I am not a socialist or a communist. Nor am I currently poverty-stricken. But we are our brother's keeper, and as long as competition squashes the natural caring for our nation, we will keep slouching as a civilization toward that beastly keeper of Hell.

On the national front, here's some advice from an old codger:

Cut non-essential government spending. Nearly all of it is non-essential. Cut all social programs. Cut all pork spending. Cut at least half of the humongous Federal work force (the government will run better.)

Bring our troops home who are scattered all around the world. We'll be stronger. Drastically downsize our armed forces, but maintain a large reserve in case we're attacked.

Bail out no one. No home owners, no Companies. For every company or homeowner that fails there is someone there to pick up the pieces at a bargain price. We're a resilient people. We'll bounce back.

Tighten our belt. If we survived The Great Depression—we can survive anything. I'm near eighty and I remember the depression. It was awful. Incidentally, we were slowly pulling out of it before WWII started.